If Avian flu returns, egg prices could increase to $6

Over the last few months, the price of eggs has been rising after an avian flu outbreak hit the U.S. poultry population.

Because of the outbreak, a Department of Agriculture analyst told The New York Times back in June that the country's egg production would decrease by about 4 percent this year. That's about 341 million fewer 12-packs of eggs.

Between May and June of this year, the average price for a dozen large, grade A eggs increased by more than 76 percent, according to the Department of Labor.

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If Avian flu returns, egg prices could increase to $6

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Now, consumers don't have to worry about paying more than $6 for a carton of eggs right this moment. But it is a figure we could see further down the road.

An analyst told NBC he's predicting that $6 cost if the avian flu returns sometime this year. "It's almost scary to think about what could happen to egg prices," he said.